Until I gave my official letter or resignation this year, I was in charge of costumes, along with my friend Cyd, for our city’s community nutcracker.
It was a lot of fun and a lot of work, but I have a family to take care of and blog that is growing, so I needed to manage my time a little better. It was bitter sweet to say goodbye, but a few of our kids will continue to dance. Because of this, I am sure I’ll be back in some shape or form next season, just not to the extent I was.
We performed six productions each December along with 2 dress rehearsals, and I was there for every one of them, nestled in the theater basement behind a sewing machine, drowning in tulle, sequins, and sweaty costumes. Glamorous, I know.
So, this year while trapped in the theater basement for a week, I was gabbing with one of my favorite volunteer moms about what our kids ate for breakfast. She told me that her kids love these freezer section sausages that are wrapped in pancakes. Ummmm what? At first was like, NO! But then I was like, MAYBE?! And then after giving it some more thought, I was like, actually GENIUS! Who thinks of this stuff? I deiced my kids were gonna love me so big time for making these. It’s brilliant conversations like these that I will miss most about working with the Nutcracker. Nonprofits take a village, and this village is pretty great one!
Anyways, after catching up on sleep and recovering from the holidays, I set out to made them. Y’all, they are soooo easy, and the whole family, even the husband who at first was like, “what the heck,” ate and liked them. Use any vegan sausage you like.
I originally made these with Trader Joe’s soy sausage to later learn (because I stupidly only read the front of the package and they are shelved with the other vegan options) that they contain egg. This is just one of those examples that even if a faux meat seems obviously vegan to READ THE BACK FOR ALL INGREDIENTS. I ALWAYS read packages and the one time I let my guard down and just read the front…. This was the result of shopping with many children, being in a hurry, and getting to comfortable with the shelving or packing of a certain brand. But, lesson learned, and I don’t beat myself up about mistakes like this. Neither should you if you happen to do the same. When the mistakes are unintentional, remind yourself that everyday you are making a difference for your health, animal welfare, and planet! Let the mistakes be lessons and forge forward! We can easily let something like this cause us guilt, anxiety, or anger, but that is not helping anyone or anything. Just be sure to always read the labels of unfamiliar products!
That said, Try Beyond Brand, Field Roast, Lightlife, or Tofurkey brand. I used our Light and Fluffy Pancake batter, and it was that easy! Just dip the sausage in the batter, fry them, then dip them in syrup. You could even use the little tiny vegan party sausage and make these as a party snack!
No matter the sausage you use, just make these! Seriously! If I learned nothing else this Nutcracker season, I learned this, and that is worth it’s weight in golden maple syrup!
INGREDIENTS:
For The Pancake Batter:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar (If vegan, not plant based, make sure the brand you use is in fact vegan, not all white sugars are. I use Florida Crystals)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup plant based milk
1 tablespoon melted vegan butter
The Rest of the Ingredients:
4-8 vegan link sausage, or vegan homemade hotdogs will work too.
1/3 cup flour
popsicle sticks
oil for frying, I use grapeseed
syrup for dipping
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare the pancake batter by whisking all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add in the melted butter, plant based milk, vanilla, and stir well.
Pour the batter into a tall cup.
Pour flour onto a plate
Place a wire cooling rack onto a paper towel lined cookie sheet and place it near the stove.
I cut my sausage links into thirds to make them more bite size, You can cut them in thirds, halves or even leave them whole. Just carefully poke a popsicle stick into the end of the sausage.
Fill a small pot or deep skillet with enough oil to submerge the sausage. Heat over medium heat unit nice and hot. You can poke a popsicle stick or chop stick into the pot and touch the bottom. If tiny bubbles form around it, then the oil is hot enough and ready.
Roll the sausage in the flour to lightly coat it, this will help the batter stick.
Dip the sausage into the batter, making sure it is nice and coated.
Drop sausage into the oil one at a time. When I made mine, the batter seemed like it was going to fall off of the sausage once I dropped in the oil. I just let it fry for a few seconds on the first side and carefully flipped it with some tongs to get the batter cooking on the other side. Let the sausage fry for about a minute then flip it again until the whole thing is golden brown. If they seem to be frying too quickly, reduce the heat on the stove.
Transfer finished sausage dippers to wire rack to cool.
Serve with maple syrup for dipping.
If you like this recipe, try these:
